my microcosm

Why We Drive: The Past, Present, and Future of Automobiles in America

Today, we're married to our cars. But life behind the wheel of an automobile
didn't come naturally to Americans. Crooked politicians, unscrupulous
businessmen, burning streetcars, and convoluted tax shenanigans are a
few of the players in this gripping tale of corruption, greed, and
endless miles of asphalt. In Andy Singer's accessible, scandalous tale of motordom, comics, text, and historic photographs tell
the story of the rise of the U.S. highway system and the corresponding
demise of rail and public transportation. He also explores how
we can ditch the car and rebuild a functional transportation system that can bring wealth, happiness, and freedom.

Comments/Reviews

New Pages1/16/2014

"... refreshingly atypical and accessible. Casual readers will find much to enjoy here, and readers with mixed feelings about cars and car dependency will come away from Why We Drive with a great deal of food for thought. "

"Loss of public space, the limitations of alternative fuels, sprawl and the clueless voters it helps create – with every topic we see cars run over our future while out of control transit agencies funnel their income to more roads instead of a better system. Witty cartoons on our witless ways and soul-crushing before-and-after photos add to the fun."

When short-sighted boneheads like Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who turn down millions in stimulus money intended to fund the construction of light rail, start to see the economic value and heath benefits of scraping the car culture, we'll be heading further in the right direction. Until then, get on your bikes and ride!

"Vaguely reminiscent of "The Far Side" sketches of Gary Larson or Nick Park's "Wallace and Gromit," his cartoons typically feature puffy people in unhappy situations, a commentary on the supposed ease of car ownership."

"Why We Drive’s thesis that we have a choice is on one hand liberating and on the other intimidating. It implies that in addition to career politicians and corporate big shots we’re all a little to blame. Luckily though, it also means we’re all a part of the solution too."

James Howard Kunstler, author of Geography of Nowhere and Long Emergency11/19/2012

Andy Singer is a graphical genius with a passion to reform the way we arrange things on the landscape—namely the car-clogged wilderness of suburban dreck where most of us have to live. He makes this set of difficult issues easy to understand and points the way to a happier mode of existence in places that are worth caring about and worth living in. Every politician in America should study this book.